And Then I Stubbed My Toe
By Glinda
Parenting is hard, y’all.
Today was one of those days when the end of the day sees me wanting to run down the block tearing my clothes off and screaming. Well, perhaps not the clothing part, but definitely the screaming. Or taking an endless shower where the hot water never runs out and I don’t get tired of standing there.
It was one of those days where it seemed like nothing got done, nobody was happy, and I kept trying to contact people that I needed to contact and I was completely out of luck.
We recently took my daughter to a speech evaluation because along with her (improving, thank jebus) sleep situation, is also not much of a talker. Well, it seems the speech therapist agrees with our concerns and she has officially been diagnosed with a speech delay. She was given a “good” prognosis, although I wondered to myself why it wasn’t “excellent.” Do they even give excellent ones anymore, or is that too optimistic for our lawsuit-happy society?
The fun times never end.
Has anyone else gone through a speech delay diagnosis? I am a bit out of my depth on this one, although the one thing I am great at is being an advocate for my children’s well being, so I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it soon enough. There was so much medical jargon in the evaluation that I’ve asked for clarification on some points. I’ve swanned my way through Dostoyevsky, but this report was too much for me.
I’ve not mentioned my daughter’s speech problems before on this blog because I was almost ashamed to admit that she had a problem. I’ve got a gifted son, but my daughter can’t speak? It sounds weird to me, and I’ve had a hard time wrapping my head around it. But I’ve come to realize that there is nothing for anyone to be ashamed of, that early intervention will be key to her future success, and the prognosis WILL be excellent, damnit.
April 26th, 2012 at 9:30 am
Has she had a large number of ear infections? Frequent ear infections can actually lead to speech delay (as a result of diminished hearing due to the infections). If that’s the case a visit to an ENT specialist for an evaluation and possible ear tubes might help things as well.
April 27th, 2012 at 2:07 am
Believe it or not, she’s never had even one ear infection!
But I do have an audiology appointment tomorrow to rule out any hearing deficits.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Hang in there Glinda. I know I was surprised at the gaping differences between my boys. I expected everything to be the same (looks, development, temperment). I was naiive and sorely mistaken. They are both individuals. I know I’m more than a little dense to have expected otherwise, but I learn as I go. I know you’ll do whatever needs to be done, and everything will work out.
April 27th, 2012 at 2:08 am
Thanks, Seana. And yes, I was/am naive about the whole differences thing as well.
April 26th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
I had a speech delay as a child. I took lessons from the time I was 3 until I was 7. They were fun! Lots of picture searches and games and playing memory. I learned how to read early because I spent all my time sounding out letters! There are no residual effects, except that I won’t stop talking now! I’m in law school, and speaking in Moot Court has been one of my favorite things so far. While I still can’t properly say “suzy sold seashells by the seashore” three times fast, I am perfectly able to be understood by everyone.
April 27th, 2012 at 2:09 am
Congrats on the law school admission, jess!
I’m so glad you had such a great experience with speech therapy, I can only hope my daughter will have similar positive associations!
April 26th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
You know, take her to a sleep diagnostic center. Seriously. If she has trouble sleeping, it can result in attention/learning problems. It could be as simple as allergies –> enlarged tonsils/adenoids –> sleep apnea –> poor sleeping –> speech delay.
(Simple, because a little Claritin could work wonders.)
Peds sleep labs are set up primarily to assess for apnea (they are typically run by pulmonologists.) But they’ll look for anything that leads to poor sleep.
And you’re right — (good) parenting is hard work.
April 27th, 2012 at 2:12 am
You know, I’m almost afraid to take her to one of those, because I think she would scream her head off at being in such unfamiliar surroudings.
I was discussing with my husband today that perhaps her problems stem from some type of undiagnosed condition (possible autism spectrum, speech apraxia, ADHD, who knows…) and that maybe we keep expecting her to act “normal” but none of what we expect is in any way “normal” for her.
I’m not explaining it well, but I think we have more doctor appointments in our future.
April 28th, 2012 at 8:47 am
Try a behavioral/developmental pediatrician. They can screen for those things that you are concerned about — though your daughter is far too young to be diagnosed with ADHD. Usually academic medical centers will have a B&D pediatrician attached.
April 26th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
She will do great in therapy and won’t even realize that it is something that makes her different. My two eldest kids are in speech therapy for two very different reasons.
April 27th, 2012 at 2:13 am
I knew Evan was doing speech therapy, but wasn’t aware your second was as well. Yeah, I agree, it will be normal for her to have speech therapy and she will think nothing of it.
April 26th, 2012 at 8:14 pm
My son is also speech-delayed. I brought him in when, at age two, he still wasn’t combining any words (and only had a vocab of about 10 words total.) We’ve worked with him and now, 6 months later, his vocabulary has exploded. His enunciation is still pretty shaky (I often have to act as his interpreter), but it’s progress. I don’t doubt that your son will do just great.
April 27th, 2012 at 2:14 am
Yay for him! 🙂 I’m glad he is doing so well and that all your hard work has paid off!
April 27th, 2012 at 3:14 pm
Everybody told me it would be like floodgates opening. And it was. The problem was that I was anticipating his needs TOO much, and not making him work (verbally) for what he wanted.